Lindsey Vonn crashed at the Winter Olympics on Sunday in the women’s downhill alpine skiing final after suffering an ACL injury just days before
Lindsey Vonn has crashed(Image: NBC)
Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn has crashed during the women’s downhill alpine skiing final at the Winter Olympics on Sunday. The 41-year-old was in action after suffering a left ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury just nine days ago.
And Vonn’s comeback has ended in nightmare fashion after she crashed just moments into her session. The American was immediately surrounded by a team of medical professionals as the stretcher was brought out.
The Olympic star could be heard sobbing and looked to be in considerable pain. The distressing scenes left the crowd in stunned silence as she was airlifted onto a stretcher before being taken away by a helicopter – most likely to a nearby hospital.
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Five-time Olympic skier Graham Bell reacted with shock while commentating on BBC Two. He said: “Oh no, She’s gone. She has crashed, she did everything she could, she has gone on the top of the course and the crowd are stunned.
“She took all of the risks to get here. She proved in the training run that she could get to the starting gate.”
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The incident prompted an emotional response on commentary from former British downhill skier Chemmy Alcott, who raced alongside Vonn.
She said: “I actually feel guilty that I am this emotional. When we thought about the end of this story, we never thought and never believed that it would end in her in a clump at the side of the piece, not moving.
“What we saw is the top section is running very fast. The left-footer is really hard for healthy athletes. She is trying to throw herself down this, gunning for the podium. She doesn’t have a left knee, she drops her hip back and this is an absolute nightmare. It is an absolute nightmare.
“The whole world is watching and we wanted to see her come through the finish smiling, because she was fast, we wanted to see her take on this challenge, it is just really tough.”
She added: “I feel so bad that I feel this way because her family and all over her team… it is so sad. We have to be realistic. The risk was really really high for her to take on the G-force of this downhill.
“The risk she faced when you fall are double that. Her body will not be able to withstand that. The crowd here, everyone is feeling it. There is intermitten clapping and I think that is hop that she is going to get up.
“But then the screen comes on and we see all the medical staff around here. They have actually had to put on some background noise because it is quite uncomfortable.”
Vonn was previously taken to hospital by air ambulance on January 30 after sustaining a ruptured ACL during a crash at a World Cup event in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
But she made a remarkable recovery and participated in Friday’s practice session ahead of this weekend’s competition. However, her final Olympics looks to have ended in heartbreak after crashing out in Sunday’s downhill.
The incident led to a 20-minute course hold before action resumed. And less than an hour after Vonn’s crash – Cande Moreno also went down.
The Andorran crashed on the steepest part of the course and was seen holding her knee before being airlifted away.
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